The Daily Struggles of Nanoka Arakita
by chinchilla donut
Summary: Her calligraphy club is dying, she's failing English, and her mom is adamant on turning her into a Stepford housewife. Nanoka doesn't have the time for teenage boys, but somehow they find a way to wedge themselves into her life anyway. Nanoka just tries her best to keep her head above the water. Previously 'Grimacing Girl'.
1. Grimacing Girl

Kitagawa Daiichi Middle School

**April**

"Excuse me! Please let us through!"

"I can't see the board at all..."

"Maybe we can get sneak in through the side?"

There is a crowd of students in front of the school announcement board. Middle schoolers jump around and shove at each other to get to the front. It was the beginning of the school year, and friends and classmates are randomized into separate classes. Everyone is both eager and anxious of the new class assignments. One second year brunette is especially vicious and jabs at people's stomachs to get to the front. She scrutinizes the class roster in front of her before squealing and scrambles underneath the arms of other students before anyone catches her for her sharp-elbowed antics.

She reappears outside the mass of students, bouncing up to another girl who is waiting for her for results. The brunette continues to bounce in place and announce chipperly,

"Nanocchi, we're in the same class!" The taller girl, so called Nanocchi, raises her hands for a high five and receives a stinging slap to the palms. "I'm so excited! I wonder who our homeroom teacher will be?" The other girl shrugs, linking her arm with the jittery girl. The step into motion towards the equally crowded school entrance.

"Maybe Wakamatsu-sensei again."

"Boooring. We should totally get a hot new teacher. Like in that drama 'After School Love Story'? Tearjerker alert!"

"That's a romance between a high schooler and recent college graduate. We're 14, Haru, and a romance between us and a teacher would be very, very illegal." Haru makes a half hearted boo but a grin plasters back onto her face.

"Party pooper! Whatever. We can enjoy a forbidden romance in high school then."

The taller girl bumps shoulders with a tall dark haired boy, stopping both of them in their apologizes, and at the same time notices the little badge on his blazer pocket. _A first year_. He nods in acknowledgment before resuming his walk towards the still overcrowded message board. She turned back to Haru, who is making leery eyes at the boy walking away. "Right. In high school then." Haru recoils before turning towards her with a gape.

"What? Are you doubting my teacher seducing abilities? I'll show you! Our gym teacher is so crushing on me! The other day . . ." They fall back into a comfortable stride towards the school. Nanocchi rolled her eyes.

"Nooooo, our gym teacher totally has a girlfriend and . . ."

Their voices eventually get swallowed by the student mass once more by the school entrance.

This story will center around Nanocchi, whose birth name is Arakita Nanoka (荒北七日), a second year at Kita Daiichi Junior High along with her friend, Haru, which is one of many nicknames for Kichijou Chiharu(吉上千春). Chiharu will eventually attend a different high school and they will lose touch, but at the moment, they are stuck together at the hip.

Nanoka is a fourteen year old born on the seventh of August (hence her name, which means 'the seventh day'), raised in Miyagi. She has an older brother, but he's attending a high school in Tokyo, therefore physically absent from the story (though not irrelevant).

The boy who just bumped into her may just be another freshmen to her, but Kageyama Tobio will become an important person in Nanoka's youth. Just, not yet.

-.-.-

Chiharu and Nanoka arrive at their new classroom and receive their new seating assignment.

"This is an apostrophe! We have Wakamatsu-sensei again and not only that, we're sitting FIVE. ROWS. APART." Chiharu wails dramatically. Their homeroom teacher quips from a meter away.

"That hurts my feelings, Kichijou-kun. It's also atrocity, not apostrophe." Chiharu scoffs and waves his comments aside.

"Details, details." Wakamatsu-sensei huffs before slapping the handouts against the chalkboard.

"Everyone get to your seats! Homeroom is starting!" A voice cries out.

"But the bell didn't ring yet!"

"No complaints! This year's Wakamatsu-sensei is reborn! He is stricter and meaner and tougher! Hahaha!" Everyone grumbles and shuffles around to their assigned seats. Exchanging winks with Chiharu, Nanoka slinks her way to her seat on the opposite end of the room by the hallway windows. Once everyone settles, they stand and bow in unison when the bell finally chimes.

"Good morning." They chorus. Standing in front of the classroom, Wakamatsu-sensei grins.

How he missed this.

-.-.-

Classes were a breeze. They received the new textbooks for their new classes (geometry, English 2, chemistry, home economics, history, Japanese lit, so forth) and met some new teachers, though none were under thirty or even remotely attractive, much to Chiharu's disappointment. The last bell of the day rings, and students start packing their new books and notes. Chiharu hazardously shoves her belonging in her messenger bag and Nanoka grimaces at the sound of crinkling print outs. How her teachers never reprimand her about her neatness amazes her. Maybe Chiharu _does_ have teacher seducing skills.

Chiharu laughs at her.

"Nanocchi you're doing that face again." Nanoka's frown deepens, her left eye twitching. "Ahaha, you're just looking more and more like your brother!"

"I didn't ask for this face," Nanoka grumbles. Chiharu coos at her, giggling all the while.

They walk down to the shoe racks where they switch their indoor shoes for their outdoor shoes, and are about leave school property when Chiharu gasps.

"I forgot to ask when the volleyball tryouts are!" Nanoka groans, slapping her palm to her forehead before dragging it down, revealing an uglier grimace.

"Oh my god, I thought you promised to be over him this year and find someone else to have the hots for," The brunette makes a wiggle dance, hands clasped.

"But the other day I saw him practicing by himself at the park and I fell in love again with his dedication," Chiharu sighs dramatically. "I know we aren't meant to be though. I won't try anything. Ahhhh, if only this was a parallel universe where every boy in the world is in love with me!" Nanoka blinks, then bursts out laughing. She side-hugs Chiharu, who grins and embraces her back just as tightly.

How she missed this.

-.-.-

Kageyama Tobio first notices her on the first day of volleyball practice. Her's was the only grimacing face in the mass of blushing girls, therefore she stood out a whole lot. She obviously did not want to be there, but the arm of another girl linked tightly around hers lets her do otherwise. Oikawa Tooru arrives at the gym, waving at the girls. They scream, alerting Iwaizumi Hajime to Oikawa's arrival. Tobio's attention immediately diverts to Oikawa, and the grimacing girl's face gets pressed into the very corner of his mind.

Tobio notices her presence a few more time before she stops appearing altogether, though her friend religiously dropped by at every practice to cheer for Oikawa. Speaking of Oikawa... Tobio approaches the upperclassman, a ball in hand, determination in mind. Oikawa visibly twitches at the sight of the first year and Iwaizumi turn around.

"Oikawa-san, please teach me how to serve!"

-.-.-

Tobio is stuck at the library, trying to understand the importance of the pythagorean theorem because he sure as hell didn't care. His algebra class has a test coming up and it's not multiple choice, which means Tobio must show at least some work to get any points for the random numbers he's going to put down as an answer. His coach's voice pops up in his mind.

_ "I'm sure everyone is doing fine with their grades, but just as a reminder, if anyone fails more than two classes, they will be kicked out of their club to take supplementary lessons. This includes the Volleyball team, so be sure to keep your grades up."_

Tobio grips his pencil tightly.

The library is crowded, and seats open are immediately nabbed. His ears catch the screeching of a chair and he looks up to see the upperclassman across from him getting up and gathering his belongings. Tobio shuffles his pencil case and books closer to himself to make sure the older boy won't accidentally take any of his stuff. Tobio lowers his eyes back down to the practice problems his teacher gave the class to prep. It wasn't mandatory to hand this in, so he doesn't necessarily have to do this sheet, but he missed a few home works and he wants to get back onto the teacher's favored list. He grumbles to himself and scratches his head using the butt of his pencil.

Tobio chooses to ignore the shadows of people moving in front of him and continues to pour over the sheet. A few textbooks appear in his peripheral vision. _Japan's Historical Figures_ and _The Westernization of Japan: Perry to Present_. A notebook and pencil case is strewn before a slender hand tugs the _Japan's Historical Figures_ closer to them and fingers the pages open. Tobio's eyes unconsciously follows the hand up the arm to the neck to the face of-

'_Grimacing Girl_.'

Though Grimacing Girl is not currently grimacing, her crooked eyebrows and wispy hair are distinctive. Her eyebrows furrow and her lips purse as she peruses the table of contents. Tobio stares at her until she glances up, making him jolt in his seat. She eyes him, but finding him not all that interesting, she lowers her gaze back down to the page, though not as concentrated as before. Tobio's heart thumps fast and hard in his chest. They do not interact for the rest of the period, and when the bell rings, Grimacing Girl gathers her things and walks out of the library.

Tobio's heart still pumped blood that had traces of adrenaline from the brief encounter.

-.-.-

The test is in four days. Tobio has yet to complete the homework sheet. At this point, he doesn't even care about handing it in-he just wants to finish the last question and feel satisfied for once. He's been feeling irritated since Oikawa refuses to give him the time of day, Coach's reminder mocked him every time he looked at a volleyball, and he still hasn't made a single friend in class. Not that he cared, but it will be nice to be able to go over class works and assignments with someone-

"You're doing it wrong."

Tobio almost snaps his pencil in half. He swivels his head to where the voice came from.

Grimacing Girl is standing a meter away. Her expression was strained, lips tight and brown eyes narrowed. She clutches a literature texture to her chest. He finally finds his voice and he stutters,

"E-excuse me?" Grimacing Girl tucks a wisp of hair behind her ear, her nostrils flaring a little.

"The drawing. It's supposed to be a rectangle inside a triangle, not a triangle inside a rectangle." Tobio stares up at her.

"...oh."

"Yeah." Grimacing Girl looks ready to run, already edging away from the first year. Tobio does not understand this observation, and is enlightened with an idea. Grimacing Girl is obviously a second year because of the badge on her chest pocket, therefore she must have already taken the class he is currently taking. She even corrected him, which must mean he knows the subject well right? Right? Right!

"Um, well, I'll get goin-"

"Please wait!" Grimacing Girl habitually stands rigid at the yell. It sounded a lot louder than it was supposed to because the library is dead silent. Surrounding students throw Tobio either a puzzled stare or an angry glance. Tobio totally disregards the setting and continues to talk in a normal volume.

"You're good at math, aren't you?" Grimacing Girl's eyebrows shooting up, her mouth crooked to expose clenched teeth. She makes a quizzical smile.

"I guess?" Tobio's eyes shine. He grabs at the older girl's wrists, ignoring her sudden tenseness. His face is hardened.

"You need to teach me math. I need to pass this test."

Grimacing Girl blinks up at him (just a few centimeters taller, but he was practically leaning over her), eyebrows furrowed in thought. She opens her mouth but-

"Both of you, get out."

- the librarian, seething, stands just a few meters away. Students with equally hard glares stare them down. Grimacing Girl sighs in resignation, and not needing to pack anything because she hasn't even sat, heads towards the door. Seeing that his key to continue playing volleyball was walking away, Tobio hastily shoves his papers in his bag and chases his upperclassman out of the double doors.

-.-.-

She didn't ask for this.

Nanoka grumbled to herself as she slouched her way down the hallway, her face set in a deep frown, her ire causing temporary crow's feet because of her often scrunched facial expression. She went to the library to finish her essay on senior citizen homes, and noticed the same boy that sat across from her last time, working on the exact same math sheet with no progress whatsoever. She pitied him and gave him some advice. Their interaction was supposed to end there but the boy attached himself to her like a leech after having the nerve to command her to teach him!

The same boy is still following Nanoka, easily catching up with his long legs. He seemed kind of lanky to be an athlete, but she saw his arm muscles flex when he grabbed onto her. Nanoka's wrists still stung a little. He must be in a sports team, something like baseball, to have a grip like that. He has combed down hair (probably gelled), with dark blue eyes that pressures her to conform to his will. His nose is sharp and lips set in an equally sharp frown.

"You need to teach me." Nanoka abruptly stops, causing him to nearly plow her over. She turns around with a dour expression and slaps him audibly on his chest, creating a ripple in his gakuran. She snaps,

"How about you rephrase that before I even consider it, first year?" The black haired boy gapes at her, eyes wide, before snapping into a straight posture and bowing ever so slightly.

"Please teach me math, senpai!" Nanoka crosses her arms. She snootily raised her chin so she gazed down at him over the bridge of her nose.

"You got me kicked out of the library."

"I'm sorry, senpai!" A trickle of sweat runs down the first year's neck.

"What are you going to do about it?" Tobio freezes. Oikawa's disembodied voice comes to mind.

_"Iwa-chan, I'm sorry, I'll treat you to ice cream!"_

"I-I'll treat you to ice cream!" Nanoka leans back a little in surprise before breaking out into a smirk. Well, there's nothing in her book that can't be solved with food. She decides to keep her facade for a little longer. She places her hands on her hips and leans forward, making the boy instinctively lean back. He now precariously stood at a negative thirty degree angle. Nanoka purrs.

"What's your name, first year?" She watches his larynx bob nervously. He is obviously trying to look everywhere but her playful expression. His eyes currently sat on the ceiling, face and neck tinged pink.

"It's Kageyama Tobio, senpai." It was also kind of blatant that he was trying to appeal to Nanoka's status as an upperclassmen by mentioning it in every sentence. She's probably been called senpai for a year's worth in the last twelve minutes. Nanoka sighs, retreating, allowing

Tobio to straighten his form. Nanoka crosses her arms again, nodding to herself.

"Well, Kageyama-kun. You haven't exactly been a well mannered underclassman, but I can overlook that if you find and buy me the limited edition Napolitan flavored Garigari-kun. " Tobio blinks in confusion before perking up, his whole expression brightening despite the lack of a smile on his face. She's going to teach me! Touched by her forgivingness, Tobio gives her a casual half bow.

"Azzasu*!"

-.-.-

"What is this I hear about you getting asked out at the library by a first year?" Chiharu shrills. When Nanoka arrived at the club building, she was already waiting at the entrance of the Calligraphy Club Room. Nanoka spluttered before regaining her composure and gathering the key she dropped on the floor from the surprise attack.

"Haru, you should know better than to listen to gossip." Chiharu wiggles her hips in anticipation.

"But Moemi-chan from 2-B-"

"Only heard it from somebody else. Was she even at the library when this happened?" Chiharu pouts her glossed lips.

"Noooo, but-"

"Haru." Nanoka groans. Chiharu promptly shuts her jaw, still pouting full force, cheeks puffed. Nanoka glances at Chiharu's face just once before caving in.

"He just wanted someone to tutor him in algebra."

"...what?" Chiharu's dream scenario of Nanoka getting asked out by a handsome freshmen and getting whisked away into a whirlwind of romance crumbles before her eyes. "Tutoring?" Chiharu jiggles the doorknob before finally getting it to creak open. She takes off her shoes and assesses the room as Chiharu closes the door behind them.

The tatami had ink splatters from years ago, seeped into the grains of bamboo. Rice paper littered the floor, and piles more lay on the side for their disposal. Looking down on them, a framed calligraphy is pinned to the top of the clubroom window:

_'Writing is an Art Form'_

"He's absolute trash at it. He couldn't solve Yanda-sensei's short answer questions. Remember those?" Getting over her shock, Chiharu thumps her fist into her open palm.

"I remember those! The ones gave us before tests right? Those are so unfair, they're so easy and when you actually take the exam, the questions are a million times harder!" Nanoka makes a deadpanned expression at her. "Okay, maybe not a million times harder, but a still significantly!" Nanoka shrugs off her school bag and blazer, hanging it on the hook by the door. She makes a hand motion for Chiharu's blazer.

"This kid wants to pass the test even though he can't solve a single question. He's not going to make it, I don't know why he bothers." Chiharu hands Nanoka her blazer after patting the back of dust.

"Do you know his name?" Nanoka pauses briefly before resuming hanging the blazer next to hers. She sits on one of the ink stained cushions with grace. Being in this room habitually makes her calm and focused. Now all she needs to do is prepare some sumi before she can get to work. She pulls a nearby stack of paper near her, pinning one sheet to the flat board using a stone. Nanoka 'hmm's in thought.

"I think it was... Kageyama?" Chiharu stares at Nanoka, shocked. The brunette croaks,

"Kageyama? Volleyball club member Tobio Kageyama?" Nanoka stops rubbing the ink stone onto the heated plate to look up at her frozen friend.

"I knew it. He's in a sports team." Chiharu breaks out of her ice and reaches over to grab Nanoka's shoulder.

"Nanocchi, he's a big deal! All the girls are saying that he's a genius volleyball player that might replace Oikawa-kun!" Nanoka calmly rips Chiharu's hand off of her.

"Haru, I'm helping him with algebra, not volleyball. I'm not trying to destroy your precious Oikawa-kun." Nanoka sarcastically made her pitch higher for the third year's name to express her disdain. Chiharu backs down reaching to her left to fidget with some askew rice paper.

"I'm just worried, that's all. Oikawa-kun doesn't seem to like that genius first year very much." Nanoka wets her sumi brush with ink, contemplating what to write.

"I wouldn't like someone who's out to replace me either." The calligraphy club president places the brush to the paper, gliding it to the right before making an abrupt three hundred degree turn. Chiharu watches with interest as the wet words '_The Strongest Persevere_' is swiped into existence. In the back of Nanoka's mind, a dark fuzziness grew. _Replaceable._ Chiharu stared down at the words before nodding and pumping her tiny fists.

"Oikawa-kun is totally stronger than that stupid first year! He'll definitely be the setter for this year's prefecture competition! Nanocchi, I'm keeping this one to give to Oikawa-kun to boost his confidence!" Despite asking for permission, Chiharu grabs the paper from Nanoka's writing board before she can give consent. Nanoka was not surprised, but she still became exasperated.

"You better roll it this time."

"That was that one time!"

"'_Monkeys also Fall from Trees_'?" Chiharu sticks her tongue out of the corner of her tongue in a sarcastically cute manner. She seemed to have caught that habit from Oikawa, because Nanoka always sees him with the same face when playing with Iwaizumi.

"Oopsy, that other time too."

Nanoka harrumphed. "Right." Chiharu distractingly glances down at her clock.

"Where's Fukuchi-kun? Doesn't he usually arrive by this time?" Nanoka finishes the last stroke of her word.

'_Diligence_.'

"He handed in his club resignation form last week." Chiharu gasps.

"That asshole!"

"Haru!"

"But Nanocchi, without Fukuchi-kun-"

"I know." The tiny brunette continued to fume.

"That's so unfair!" Nanoka shrugs, her shoulders drooping. The Calligraphy Club will most likely receive a disbanding notice in a few days, or a few weeks if they're lucky and the counselors do not notice their insufficient number of members for a while. Chiharu, being the sweetheart she is, signed up to be a member when she hear about Nanoka's predicament during the second semester of their first year. They both coerced Fukuchi Sakama to join the club to make it official after finding out that he was not in any club. She was surprised Fukuchi even stuck around for such a long time despite having no interest in this art. _He probably won't show his face around me for a while._

Chiharu continues to rant, but when she glances at Nanoka, her voice fades into silence.

"Nanocchi, the brush..."

"What? Oh, oh! Crap!" In her daze, Nanoka's brush stroke has exceeded the paper and travelled onto the tatami. "Nooo." She dabbed at the tatami with the underside of her cushion, but the ink has seeped in too far to absorb. She stared the stain with resigned expression. Chiharu slowly pulls her own cushion from under her legs and places it quietly over the stain. Without uttering a single word, an agreement passes between them.

-.-.-

"_Meet me in front of the vending machines tomorrow during lunch._"

Tobio power walks down the hall, textbook and worksheet in hand. He doesn't want to arrive there after her, because this senpai is spending her precious lunch period to tutor him. He gets to the east side of the school building where the vending machines are located, along with a lawn with sakura trees and a few flower beds. The flowers of the sakura trees are long gone, and the branches now have lush green leaves that create the perfect shade to sit under. Some students already occupied the limited space under the tree, and one student in particular looks very familiar-

"Senpai!" Grimacing Girl slowly looks up from the novel she was perusing. She is sitting on the stumpy roots of one tree, knees bent slightly to keep balance. Her back leans against the wood, her hair swept over one shoulder to keep it from getting caught onto the grains and branches of the tree. She gives him that crooked grimace that he started to associate with her and only her.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry senpai!"

"Well, sit down. Let's get to work and get as much done as possible."

"Ossu!" Tobio drops to the ground and scatters his papers. Grimacing Girl leans over her knees to look at his textbook.

"Kageyama-kun, these are the foundations of algebra. If you don't understand this, the rest of the curriculum will be a lot more confusing. When is your test?"

"Friday."

"And you didn't look for tutoring for the past week becaaause?" Tobio's mouth forms a sharp pout that was one degree away from an acute angle.

"...I thought I will eventually make it work if I tried hard enough." Grimacing Girl gives him a half lidded stare, then sighs.

"Algebra isn't something you can work out with sheer will power. You need to understand it before any of the cogs move to your command," She scoots closer to Tobio and fingers a few pages before opening up to a problem that seemed easy enough. "Here, lets try this question here, so there's a lamp that's 10 meters tall..."

"...I apply the formula here?"

"No."

"...if a is 12cm, then c has to be..."

"How do you even get to that conclusion?"

"I get it! The answer is..."

"...you're getting there. But you missed this step, which is essential to..."

"This isn't making sense, are you sure the question has an answer?"

"Kageyama-kun, don't blame the question for your stupidity."

"Eugh."

For nearly a whole hour, the two poured over problem after problem. Tobio gets better at questions that are essentially the same but with different inputs, but the moment a new variable is added, he ends up back at square one. Before they know it, the class bell chimes, notifying students of their thirty seconds to get to class. Grimacing Girl and Tobio panic, papers flying, scrambling into the school building with other students on their heel. Tobio abruptly stops, nearly causing a collision with the student behind him. He calls out to the second year, who is skipping steps up the stairs.

"Senpai, am I seeing you tomorrow?" Grimacing Girl hops in place, moving to the side to avoid getting barreled. She takes one look at Tobio's frightened expression. _How cute._

"You're stuck with me until Friday, Kageyama-kun. Better buck up and eat your lunches during class." Tobio's cheek regain their hue in relief, and Grimacing Girl unconsciously lets out a breathy giggle.

"Azzasu!"

-.-.-

The day of the exam arrived fast. Tobio shook in his seat during their last tutoring session and kept on making mistakes he didn't make before. Nanoka taught him the calming charm where one draws the kanji for _Person_ on their hand and swallowing it to regain their sense of self**, but Tobio obviously thought it was dumb and only partook in it to please her.

Nanoka sighs and stretches her arms in front of her. _Kageyama-kun must be taking the test right now_. She wonders if Kageyama used the calming charm, or even the short cut to that one particular formula he couldn't get down. Nanoka props her left arm up and settles her chin on the palm of her hand.

Tobio is one of the most immature people she knows, but at some point he started to become endearing. In her mind, he has evolved from a bratty first year to socially awkward first year. Her favorite is the moment when Tobio realizes he said something stupid or mean and makes a certain expression where he lowers his jaws while keeping his mouth closed, elongating his face, his eyebrows furrowed together, eyes buyg-eyed. When she saw the face for the first time it scared the crap out of her, and Nanoka thought he was angry, but after connecting the dots she came to know that Tobio wasn't the best at expressing himself, facially or verbally, and that so called angry face was his interpretation of a terrified puppy. He never voices an apology, but his face tells Nanoka that Tobio knows he did something wrong and is waiting for the consequences. He only relaxes again when Nanoka visibly brushes the comment off. It's a reminder that Nanoka is in control of their relationship, and it definitely helps that it strokes her ego and is absolutely hilarious (and a touch adorable).

Nanoka ends up day dreaming about Tobio for the entire class period. She only snaps out of it when her classmates start gathering their things, indicating that the bell has already rung. Nanoka makes a sheepish smile when the chemistry teacher shakes his head while passing by her desk to exit the classroom. The moment the teacher is out of sight, Nanoka slaps her cheeks repetitively. _Get your shit together! You should be focusing on ranking within the top 50***, not boys! _Her eyes trail towards the door. _I wonder if Kageyama-kun is waiting for me today? I did say that I will only help him for this test… _Before she even realizes, Nanoka is floating out of the classroom, Chiharu's indignant shrieks going into one ear and out the other.

Tobio is not at their meeting spot.

Nanoka is not surprised, but she couldn't help but be a little disappointed. She hoped that they could remain friends outside of tutoring but it looks like she raised the bar too high. Nanoka sighs through her nose and wanders to the vending machines. She buys a calpico soda for herself and a melon soda for Chiharu to make up for the whole week of being Nanoka-less during lunch. She weaves through the forming crowd of students, wondering if she will be able to enter the library again if she changes her hairdo so the librarian won't recognize her.

-.-.-

**Three Days Later**

Sixty Eight.

Tobio's hands trembled, crinkling the edges of the paper. He passed. This score is a record breaker for him, because his goal used to be to just get into the double digits. His cheeks are bright red, lip wobbling with barely contained whoops of joy.

"Kindaichi, what did you get?" Tobio perks up at his team mate's name. In his peripheral vision, he sees Kindaichi Yuutarou and Kunimi Akira swapping papers. "You failed, huh. This test was a lot harder than I expected. The review sheet didn't help at all." Kindaichi scratches his head, a pout on his face. Tobio's eyes trail back to his own test. _I-I got a higher score than Kindaichi!_

"I thought the test would have been easier too...you usually get high eighties but you got a seventy this time, huh."

"Urgh, don't rub salt into my wounds. I got to keep my average up so I have to get into the nineties in the next test. Kageya-whoa, are you okay? You're shaking." Kunimi makes a double take when he turns to address Tobio. Tobio's eyes were glassy, his lower lip jutted. "A-are you going to cry? Why are you going to cry? Did we do something?" Kindaichi furiously shakes his head, not wanting to take responsibility for a crying classmate.

"Nuh-uh, I refuse to be accused of bullying! He started cryin' all by himself!" Tobio looks up from his paper, and his watery smirk makes Kindaichi and Kunimi a little weirded out.

"I... I got a sixty eight."

The two boys take a second to take it in. Kunimi is the first to break the silence.

"What." Kindaichi growls and grabs the paper out of Tobio's hands.

"Let me see that!" Kunimi and Kindaichi lean into the paper, staring a hole into the red number on the paper. They simultaneously angle their head back up towards Tobio. "What." Tobio is still in a high daze. He has never felt this good before, not since that time he perfected the c-quick after weeks of practice. It was the feeling of ecstasy when you do something you thought impossible.

Tobio thought of how he got there, and Grimacing Girl's face immediately comes to mind. She gave him advice. She told him shortcuts. She warned him about the difficulty difference. She taught him a useless charm. She helped him be able to continue to play _volleyball. _

Tobio abruptly grabs the paper back, and runs out the door towards the vending machines. He needs to show Grimacing Girl his score and see that weird half smile on her face that he likes and maybe get a pat on the head or a pinch on the cheek because he's so proud of himself and he absolutely needs Grimacing Girl to know that she didn't waste her lunch periods on him and that he's not the hopeless case she thought he was.

Tobio sprints down the hallway, barely dodging staff and students.

_He needs her to be proud of him._

-.-.-

**Culture Notes**

**Azzasu***: You would have heard this before if you watched the anime, but it is the informal and shortened version of 'Arigatou Gozaimasu'. Commonly used by boys.

**Charm****: A well known good luck charm technique in Japan. It apparently helps people get into a meditative state. If you want to try it, the kanji for person is 人. Downward left to right before a downward right to left.

**School Ranking***: **In Japan, you don't get a GPA in a class. You get ranked among the students in your year (Example: If you get an average of 80s in one class, you probably rank 300 out of 1000 students). It's meant to promote competition, but it's a flawed system because it implies that student self worth is measured by how well they do in school.

-.-.-

**A/N**

Hey guys! Thanks for reading this first chapter!

I decided to write this story because Tobio's middle school life isn't really mentioned other than that last junior high competition where he gets knocked off his pedestal in both manga and anime. So I wanted to explore it! Tobio is 13 here (middle school in Japan starts at 7th grade), and Nanoka is 14. They are young and immature, so expect a just as immature relationship between them(expect fluff and illogical reasoning).

As you have noticed, this story revolves around Tobio and Nanoka, with interchanging point of views. It's to keep everyone on the same page because despite being in the same school, they are 99% of the time in a different setting with a different mindset. When _BLEEP_ comes into the story, their point of view will be added. Hopefully this wasn't too confusing.

I will also make many cultural references, because I sort of want to make this fic a little educational haha. If you have any question about Japanese language, culture, customs, whatever, **ask**! Everyone has to start somewhere, and it's the better choice compared to making stuff up about an actual, existing culture.

Special thanks to **Bergliot**__for letting me bounce ideas off of her and just being super supportive of this story. Without you, I probably would have just left this story a plot bunny and never would have wrote it.


	2. Confession

**Chapter Two**

It takes Tobio twenty four minutes to register that his senpai is not going to show up at their meeting spot.

Rather than feeling hurt and giving up, it fuels his pent up energy even more and he power walks back into the school building and up the stairs to the second floor, where the second and third year homerooms were. He opens the closest second year classroom, 2-E, and takes a look around. The older students barely spare him a glance, and none of them finding Tobio worth investigating. It reminds him of the first time he and Grimacing Girl met in the library. It must be a senpai thing.

Not finding the older girl, he moves onto the next classroom. Same problem. Students milling in the hallway watch him curiously as he opens each door. When he gets to 2-C, a male student sitting right by the exit cocks his head at Tobio while his friends raise their eyebrows at the notion of a first year stepping into a second year classroom.

"Did ya need something?" Tobio opens his mouth to reply before he realizes something horrible.

What is Grimacing Girl's name? Did she ever tell him? Did he ever ask? Did it get buried under the million equations and formulas she pounded into his brain? How rude can he get? How is he supposed to properly thank her when he can't personalize it? The upperclassmen exchanges wary glances with his friends as Tobio's face gets paler. "Hey kid, you okay?"

"Maybe he thought this was his classroom?"

"No way, all first year homerooms are on the ground floor...oh, hey look, he's running away." The group quietly watch as Tobio sprints down the hall to the next classroom. The one closest to the door peers out the door as Tobio turns the corner. "Musta' been looking for something pretty important."

Near the chalkboard, a brunette surrounded by her flock of friends watched the underclassman with an owlish expression. ..._Kageyama?_

-.-.-

"He's back." Kindaichi looks up from his bento at Kunimi's remark. True to his words, Tobio is trudging towards his seat, surrounded by a gloomy atmosphere. Kunimi and Kindaichi both look at each other with uncertainty._ What happened?_

Neither Kindaichi or Kunimi are particularly close to Tobio. He never really reached out to them, so they returned the favor. During practice, Tobio is either bothering their setter and captain, Oikawa, or practicing with the upperclassmen since he made it to the regulars team. The only time they really interacted were when they are on the court, and even that is not conversational. But they technically are obligated to inquire about Tobio's state of health since not only are they classmates, but also team mates... Kindaichi, being the middle blocker and having the most interactions with Tobio, moves first.

"Hey, Kageyama, you...you okay?" Kunimi snorts at his attempt and immediately looks away when Kindaichi shoots him a glare, face heating up. He whispers, "I-I'm not good at cheering people up okay!" Tobio stares down at his crumpled test paper before slowly looking up. Despite the aura he is giving out, his face is scarily blank.

"Do you know any second years, Kindaichi?" The spiky haired teen in question blinks at the sudden seemingly irrelevant question.

"Uh, I only know those from the volleyball club. How about you, Kunimi?" Kunimi rubs his chin with his thumb and index finger.

"I know that Yasui-senpai's girl friend is a second year, but I don't know her name or face so I don't think that'll help you." Kindaichi gives him a deadpanned look as Tobio's eyes lower back down to his lap.

"Why bother mentioning it then, dumbass." Kunimi ignores him and addresses Tobio.

"Are you looking for someone?" Tobio nods. "Do you know their name?" Tobio shakes his head. "Is it a boy or girl?"

"Girl." Kindaichi whistles.

"What are you seeking out a female senpai for, Kageyama? How did you get to know one anyway?" Kindaichi's grin widens as he makes a connection. "Is that where you've been running off to during lunch last week?" Tobio frowns, tightening his hold on his test paper.

"She... tutored me for this test." Kindaichi's eagerness diminishes at those words. _Oh, a paid tutor_._ Luxuries of a rich kid I guess_. Kunimi notices Kindaichi's sudden lack of enthusiasm.

"Maybe we can keep an eye out for her. Describe her to us." Kindaichi grumbles that that's unnecessary work for them but Kunimi elbows him to shut his trap. Tobio's arms rise from his lap and rest on his desk to fiddle with his pencils.

"She's shorter than me, by a little. Long dark brown hair. Kinda pale. She's pretty thin." Kunimi nods along, smiling a little at the sight of Tobio slowly becoming more animated about something other than volleyball. Kunimi always thought that volleyball was on the freshmen setter's brain at any given time, but learning that even Tobio thinks about unrelated trivial things, was relieving. It humanized Tobio in his eyes. Kindaichi is leaning out the window that opens up to the hallway, half listening, half people watching. He notices a figure standing oddly close to him and looks up. "She has this face though, sometimes, and it's this weird combination of a sad face and a mean face, like this," Tobio scrunches his eyebrows, clenches his teeth, and widens his mouth in an attempt to mimic the older girl.

Kindaichi is sweating bullets while Kunimi laughs at Tobio's face.

"That must be one ugly senpai, Kageyama." Tobio purses his lower lip and is about to reply when-

"Is my face really that ugly?" Kunimi and Tobio freeze. Kunimi, because he has a pretty good feeling that this is a '_speak of the devil_' instance, and Tobio because he knows that voice. Kindaichi is scooting away from the duo, pretending to not know them. _Coward. But can't blame him_. Kunimi thinks. He risks a glance up at the girl he called ugly and does a double take. Their senpai, like Tobio has described, has long hair, pale skin, and is a little on the thin side, but she isn't his definition of ugly. She definitely looks angry though. _I wish I can swallow my words back. The second best thing will be for the ground to swallow me so I won't have to deal with the consequences_.

Grimacing Girl leans on the railing, eyes raking the boys before her.

"Well? Am I?" Kunimi fervently shakes his head, and Tobio has enough brain cells to imitate him in this denial. Senpai's sour expression softens ever so slightly. Suddenly Tobio leapt out of his seat, not able to wait anymore. He shoves the test in her face.

"Senpai, I passed!" Kunimi internally groans at Tobio's inability to read the atmosphere. Grimacing Girl gently pushes the paper away from her face so she can see it better. Kunimi is surprised at her blase response to Tobio's outburst.

"Kageyama-kun, you're satisfied with... this kind of score?" Tobio nods enthusiastically while Grimacing Girl eyes the paper up and down. Well, at least he got (barely) majority correct. "...good for you."

Tobio grins as much as his smile-disabled face allows him, not noticing the fact that Grimacing Girl didn't compliment him. All he knows is that she acknowledged his hard work and the result. Which lead him back to the original problem.

"Senpai, I want to thank you properly. Please humble me with your name." Kunimi hid his pink face in his hands, his embarrassment growing at Tobio's audacity. Grimacing Girl's frown is surprisingly gone, and she looks more amused than upset. Kunimi comes to the conclusion that she's a person who is either easily distracted, or extremely forgiving.

"I never did have to opportunity to tell you, did I?" Tobio shakes head. Grimacing Girl reaches into the classroom and places her palm on the crown of his head. Tobio beams, obviously expecting a petting.

Instead, he gets a faceful of his lunch.

_Or not._

Grimacing Girl continues to smile down at him, her wrists twisting to rub Tobio's face into the curry bread. Kunimi has joined Kindaichi in scooting as far away as he can from the second year girl. Kindaichi is shaking in his seat like a leaf.

"You also never had the manners to ask. My name is Arakita Nanoka. Remember that." Tobio groans, half his face covered in curry.

"Yez zembai."

-.-.-

"Where have you been? Kageyama-kun came looking for you," Chiharu inquired, wrapping up her tiny bunny emblemed lunchbox. Nanoka sinks into her chair, a satisfied smile on her face as she rips open the package of the milk bun.

"I know. I ambushed him in his classroom and smushed his face into his lunch."

"Oh that's ni-_-what_?" The taller girl hums contently. Tobio was looking for her. Tobio was actively seeking her out. Tobio wanted to get to _know_ her.

Maybe Nanoka and Tobio had a chance of becoming friends.

-.-.-

During class changes.

"Nanoka-senpai!"

Lunch break, hallway.

"Nanoka-senpai!"

Taking out the class trash to the incinerator.

"Nanoka-senpai!"

Chiharu watched as Nanoka waves the freshman away for the _n_th time. "Is this what you had in mind when you started tutoring him?" Tobio waves back frantically until he turns the corner and disappears. Nanoka immediately drops her arm.

"I... didn't expect him to be so clingy."

Quickly depositing the contents of the bin into the fire, they hurry back towards their classroom. Chiharu shudders, hugging the garbage pail to her chest.

"Don't you think its a bit creepy? Half of the meeting probably aren't coincidences." Nanoka shrugs.

"It's kind of cute. It's nice to know I left a good impression on him." Chiharu exaggeratingly raises the plastic bin to shield her eyes from Nanoka's slightly pink face. She lets out a high pitched cry.

"Ahhhh! It's Nanoka's Optimism Laser Beam!" Nanoka splutters.

"Hey!"

-.-.-

Tobio wanted to see Nanoka more, but being in different years and classes made this a lot harder. Since Nanoka is a second year, her homeroom is on the second floor while his is on the first. She only leaves the classroom to go to the vending machines, bathrooms, gym, or science lab. Not that Tobio waited around the corner of the staircase for a couple of hours or anything.

Tobio liked Nanoka. She treats him kindly and doesn't make fun of him. She's scary sometimes, but Tobio knows deep down she's not actually that angry. She just likes to pretend. The part he liked the most about her was that she's not afraid of his face. He's had times where children ran from him, screaming in terror just because he bent down to pick up the ball they accidentally threw near him. He wasn't glaring or anything, but his neutral face is described by others to be vicious or angry looking.

Nanoka took it all in stride and never made a comment about.

The thought makes him grip the volleyball in his hands tighter. Instantly, the sounds of the gymnasium swarm him once again. He opens his eyes, exhaling.

Tobio throws the ball into the air and makes a running start, before swinging his arm, delivering an overhand serve. A chorus from his side of the net follows.

"Nice serve Kageyama!" From the other side,

"Good receive!"

"It's yours Kunimi!"

"Iwa-chan, ready!" Within seconds, Iwaizumi spikes the ball from above the net before whipping his head towards Oikawa, baring his teeth.

"Stop calling me that in front of our underclassmen!" Oikawa childishly grins back at the growling fifteen year old, making no apologies or promises.

"Iwa-chan, the ball is coming back." He snickers as Iwaizumi instinctively bends his legs for more flexible movement, forgetting about Oikawa's nickname in an instant. The ball touches two people before it reaches Oikawa once again. He glances at his opposing team and notices that the blockers have marked Iwaizumi already. _Hmm, so predictable. We need to fix that. _Storing that information for later lecturing, Oikawa makes a feint before dunking the ball over the net.

It bounces off the floor.

Coach blows the whistle, indicating end game. Oikawa feels a shudder of joy at seeing Tobio's frustrated expression. _At least for now, I'm ahead of the little genius. _He looks down to his own red palms. _At least for now._ Almost as if Iwaizumi read his mind, his second in command slaps him on his back, snapping him out of his reverie. He gruffs.

"Good game." Oikawa grins back.

"It's all thanks to the team. Our coordination has gotten better." Oikawa purposely says the last part loudly, letting a passing Kunimi overhear. The first year beams, his usual slow walk a little bouncier to the water fountain. After wiping their sweat and drinking their portion of energy water, Team B perform quick stretches to make sure their limbs are still nimble. The coach blows the whistle thrice, signaling the end of their five minute break. Team A and B swap sides, exchanging playful slaps and calls. When Oikawa passes Tobio, he does not even acknowledge the prodigy. Tobio adopts a miffed expression, but does not do anything to reach out towards the third year student. Watching this exchange, Iwaizumi sighs. Oikawa's childishness has no bounds.

-.-.-

"Are you free this Sunday?"

'What?" Chiharu's face expressed more surprise than Nanoka's at the question. They had just exited the girl's bathroom, and Tobio was waiting for them at the entrance, piquing passerby's curiosities. Nanoka is still wiping her hands with her handkerchief, mulling over her schedule. "Um, maybe. Why?"

"There's a practice match between my team and Morisuka Middle's. Coach is letting me be setter for five rotations. I want you to be there to watch me." Tobio's face is stern, determined. Nanoka doesn't know if his constipated expression is because he really wants her to go or because he wanted to have a bigger role in the game. Beside her, Chiharu is hyperventilating from excitement.

"Nanocchi we should totally go! Volleyball games are super fun to watch!" Nanoka frowns, trying to catch Chiharu's fluttering arms that kept on slapping her. They actually kind of hurt. Tobio quirks his eyebrow at the shorter brunette.

"I didn't invite you." Chiharu freezes, before slowly turning to face the younger boy. Nanoka laughs nervously, gripping Chiharu's arm to her chest. Her placating 'now, now' goes unheard.

"Chiharu is going. _We're_. Totally. Going." Chiharu grits out, her smile containing a dangerous edge. No one denies Chiharu an Oikawa-in-action. Understandably, Tobio quickly raises a white flag. Chiharu's fake nails were starting to look a little too sharp for his liking.

"Y-yeah. Chiharu-senpai can come too." Chiharu's demeanor does a 180, and she claps her hand delightfully.

"Perfect! I can't wait, bye Kageyama-kun!"

Chiharu, Nanoka, and Tobio do not move from their spot in front of the bathroom. The sound of a flushing toilet fills the silence.

Chiharu's eyes narrow, her smile still plastered on her face. "I said _bye_, Kageyama-kun!" Nanoka sighs and makes a quiet shooing motion, and Tobio finally catches on.

"R-right. Catch you later Arakita-senpai."

"Bye Kageyama-kun."

The moment Tobio's jogging form disappears around the corner, Chiharu shakes Nanoka violently.

"Kageyama-kun totally just asked you out on a date!" Nanoka burps out a cough at suddenly being lurched side to side. In instances like this, she wishes her friend doesn't get so excited over possible relationships and instead worried about her grades more. Her secondhand excitement for Nanoka was sweet of her, but unnecessary in Nanoka's mind.

"Wait, if you thought it was a date, why are you third wheeling?" Chiharu scoffs, crossing her skinny arms.

"You guys need a champion, duh."

"Chaperone, Haru, chaperone."

"That." Nanoka pockets her handkerchief and starts walking back to their classroom to pick up the last of their belongings before leaving for a Burger King girl's date. Chiharu circles her as they walk, obviously excited about the prospect of Nanoka being fancied by a boy.

Of course, if Nanoka, or anyone really, is compare to Chiharu, they will seem bland, tasteless and boring. Chiharu literally breathes the in stale air and exhales youth back into the atmosphere. Just being around her keeps you on your toes and feeling five years younger. Chiharu is also an enabler for childish thoughts and actions, which, despite Nanoka's stubbornness, she always ends up getting roped into. Nanoka surprises herself all the time at with the things she does just because Chiharu is around. Chiharu is the alpha of the social wolf pack of the Second Years, and people went to her for gossip and advice. Nanoka didn't mind being 'that girl that's always around Chiharu-chan', because she doesn't think she will be able to handle such societal pressure and responsibility of being an active being in an active social circle. She prefers to be a white sheep, keeping her thoughts to herself as she moves along with the tide.

Perhaps it was her quick wit and refreshing modesty that first attracted Chiharu to Nanoka, but it was ultimately their First Year seating arrangement that sealed the deal on their friendship. Since then, they've been spending nearly half of their daily lives together. Nanoka tries to not think about such things, because giving the credit of their friendship to Lady Luck made it seem shallow and coincidental. Nanoka liked to imagine that they would have still become best friends even if they sat a whole eight rows apart (but who was she kidding).

Tobio's tentative friendship with her, on the other hand, seemed deeper. It still formed despite their clashing personalities and odd situation, almost as if it was meant to happen and nothing in the way can stop it. She definitely felt the pull of attraction towards the boy, but it felt more maternal because he was younger. Like how she needs to pet him when he does something good.

Nanoka never considered dating. She liked eye candy as much as the next girl, but she never considered a boy attractive _romantically_. She couldn't help but be confused when a heroine in a movie does an illogical action in the name of love. When Nanoka asks her, Chiharu simply pets her head and tells her she'll understand some day. Very helpful.

Nanoka didn't mind not being in a romantic relationship, seeing that her advanced classes and dying calligraphy club took up all of her free time. It seemed like more of a distraction than anything. And if she needed social time, she can just call Chiharu up and go out into town. End of story.

But if it's Tobio...maybe she won't mind.

-.-.-

Nanoka is dying.

"I would have said no if I knew the game starts at 8AM." Chiharu giggles, letting Nanoka snuggle into her shoulder on the short bus ride to their school. They are dressed in casual wear, but the spring morning is still chilly so they are bundled in their hoodie and sweater. Chiharu wears a frilly skort and a chiffon blouse under her v-neck sweater, while Nanoka dresses in a long sleeve oxford, shorts, and knee socks with her fleece hoodie. When they arrive at their stop, Chiharu drags Nanoka's limp body off of the bus and into the campus.

"Come one Nanocchi, I'll buy you some hot chocolate at the vending machines, walk on your oooown!" After much coaxing, Chiharu gets Nanoka to stand on her own two feet. She hands the long haired girl some coins, telling her to buy her one also since she needs to go claim a front row seat. Grumbling at being tricked, Nanoka trudges to the vending machines. A boy in their middle school volleyball team uniform stood before the the bright mechanical boxes, deep in thought. Nanoka decided to wait behind him, not wanting to cut him if he's about to choose. He notices her and turns around.

It's Oikawa.

Thankfully he doesn't recognize her from the scarce visits to the gymnasium she made with Chiharu. That would be embarrassing. He smiles charmingly at her, moving to the side.

"You can go first," Nanoka nods, plodding to the front of the drink machine to order the hot chocolates. She notices that Chiharu gave her five hundred yen, and she had enough money left for another drink.

Tobio often drank that yoghurt drink during their tutoring sessions.

Before she knew it, she inserted the money and pressed the button. Nanoka snaps out of it when the drink drops. "Ahh!" Oikawa looks at her like she's some bizarre creature and she feels like cheek burn from embarrassment. She hastily picks up the dented carton of yoghurt and flees, juggling the three drinks. Nanoka hopes she has enough spare change to pay Chiharu back for Tobio's drink.

Nanoka makes it to the gym and when she spots Chiharu waving down at her, she climbs the steep steps to the mezzani. She hands a hot chocolate and the change to the eager girl and opens her own can before it loses it's warmth.

"Hey Nanoka, why am I short 150?" Nanoka licks the foam off her upper lip.

"I bought something for Tobio too. I'll pay you back so don't worry." Chiharu looks like the cat got the cream and Nanoka's ire flares. She never liked it when Chiharu has a smug expression.

"No need to pay me back, girlfriend. I got you covered." Nanoka refuses to give into Chiharu's goad and chugs the rest of her hot chocolate, crunching the can in her fist.

"If you say so." Nanoka drops off her bag for Chiharu to watch over, and grabs her crushed can and Tobio's drink and heads down the stairs. When she gets to the ground floor, she ends up standing awkwardly at the corner of the court, trying to distinguish Tobio from the mass of uniformed boys. Tobio spots her before she does, and he pokes his head out from the crowd.

"Arakita-senpai!" The boys in the crowd perk up at his call, ogling Nanoka like a new foreign species. She sees Tobio's classmates and waves shyly at them. They stiffly nod back, the memory of Tobio's face full of curry still fresh on their mind. Kindaichi even starts trembling involuntarily.

Tobio approaches her, body buzzing from the warm ups and excitement for the game. "You came," He breathed out. Nanoka could literally feel the happiness oozing out of him in waves. Nanoka gaped at him. _He's really that glad that I came?_ She feels her skin prickle and cheeks warm at the thought. She covers her face with her hand in attempt to hide to blush and shoves the carton into Tobio's chest. He barely catches it on time and inspects it with a confused expression.

"H-here, take it! For good luck." Before Tobio can reply, Nanoka scampers away and up the stairwell into Chiharu's arms, where she hides her head under Chiharu's sweater. In between laughs Chiharu gasps out that Nanoka is paying for dry cleaning if the sweater gets stretched out. Tobio is stuck in place, staring owl eyed at the yoghurt drink in his hand. Nanoka got this for him? It's even his favorite drink. No one has ever given Tobio a gift for no reason-he barely gets birthday or Christmas gifts as is. Tobio's holds the yoghurt drink close to to his body, trying to relish the warm fuzzy feeling that was currently overwhelming him. _She was thinking about me..._

Feeling energized, Tobio stabs the opening with the straw and slurps up the drink in one breath, running back to his teammates. After watching the interaction, Oikawa nudges Iwaizumi.

"Iwa-chan, where's my drink of good luck?" Iwaizumi's expression immediately darkens and Oikawa leaps away from reach. "J-just kidding! Let's not hurt the Captain, yeah? His face is too pretty!"

Iwaizumi sprints after the shrieking brunet.

"Achaa*, Oikawa-kun made Iwaizumi-kun mad again," Chiharu tsks, leaning over the railing to keep Oikawa in her view. "You'd think they hate each other if they didn't come to school together everyday." Nanoka shrugs, huddling in her hoodie. The windows in the gymnasium are open and it's making her butt cold. She wishes she opted for tights instead of knee highs.

On the opposite side of court, a small crowd of boys in a yellow and dark green uniform stood in a circle around an adult (coach?), most likely talking about formation, attack patterns, or whatever volleyball meetings consist of. Nanoka can scarcely care, but there is nothing else to do while sitting on the mezzani. A man in a black polo blows his whistle, and the boys scramble into a line at the opposite ends of the court. Oikawa breaks away from the formation along with another boy on the opposite team, and they meet up by the net. The referee exchanges some words with them, and the boys shake hands. Nanoka jumps at the chorused roars.

"Please take care of us!"

The whistle screams, and the game is in session.

-.-.-

19-23.

Their school was losing. Chiharu and Nanoka could no longer sit during such excitement, and are gripping the railings as they screamed and groaned at each receive and spike.

Kindaichi, in an effort to keep the ball in the air, hits the ball too hard and send it over the net. Chiharu shrieks, collapsing onto the floor beside a groaning Nanoka. He growls, and Oikawa quickly placates him.

"No big deal Kindaichi!"

"Chance ball, chance ball!" The Morisuka team's libero passes the ball to the setter, and two players move into motion. Oikawa's eye dart between them._ Which one? Which one is going to hit the ball?! _The setter glances behind him. _Him!_ Kindaichi and Tobio foolishly jump in front of the decoy, and Oikawa is left alone to block the runner up. But the spiker proved to be articulate, and fluidly avoids Oikawa's arms and spikes the ball. It bounces off the ground.

19-24.

Match point.

Kindaichi pales, lips blubbering. Oikawa had warned them about blocking too fast, and that some teams will fake a spike to make an opening. But the moment he saw his opponent jump, he gave into the urge to block him. Because of him, they lost a point. Besides him, Tobio clenches his fists. He needs to get better. He needs to get stronger. Smarter. Faster.

"Awww, number 7 looks ready to cry." Chiharu cringes, and Nanoka drags her hand down her face.

"That move was kind of obvious though. They used it a few points ago, but they fell for it again. Number 7 is probably working impulsively." Oikawa pats Kindaichi's back, who looks glummer and glummer. Tobio just looks...mad.

"We're in the middle of match, get depressed later!" Tobio snaps. Iwaizumi immediately punches his side, causing Tobio to fold with a yelp.

"Stuff it, Kageyama! Don't you know anything about delicacy?!" He grumbles, but does not apologize.

"Number Seveenn!" The boys look up at the cry and see two girls waving down at them. "Donmai**! You can do it!" The short brunette give Kindaichi a wink and Tobio's friend offers a thumbs up.

Kindaichi feels his spirits rise at their support. That's right. He still has another set to turn the tables and redeem himself. If these strangers can believe in him...he can too. Kindaichi straightens his back and gives them a sloppy bow. "A-azzasu!" Tobio frowns at Nanoka's coo.

"What about me, senpai?" Tobio called. Chiharu guffaws at his lack of tact and Iwaizumi sighs.

"You're doing well too! Keep it up!" Nanoka awkwardly cheers, fist pumping. Satisfied, Tobio retreats back onto the court before they get flagged for 'Unnecessary Cheering'. Oikawa clasps his hands under his chin in a begging motion.

"What about m-"

"Oh my god Oikawa-senpai you're doing amazing!"

"We'll always be cheering for you!"

"We love you Oikawa-kun!"

The cacophony of girls scream down at him, vying for his attention. Chiharu joins the fray and Nanoka grimaces.

Oikawa notices her lack of encouragement for him, and finds it not amusing at all.

The referee yells at them for riling up the crowd and threatens to give them a red flag and give the first set to Morisuka. They boys immediately get back onto the court.

Kitagawa Daiichi manage to nab two points before Morisuka finally achieves the last point, winning the first set.

The audience disperse during the fifteen minute break, and the Kitagawa Daiichi volleyball team regroup at their end of the court, passing around drinks and towels. A second year elbows a drinking Kindaichi, causing him to squirt the energy drink all over his face.

"Kindaichiii, since when did you become friends with Chiharu-chan and her bestie? How dare you be chummy with the second year queen!" Another second year cries out in agreement. Kindaichi chokes, waving his hand in denial.

"N-no way senpai! I don't even know Chiharu-senpai, I only know her friend through Kageyama." The attention turns to Tobio, who is squeezing an energy jello into his mouth. He blinks, looking up.

"Whaf?" Kunimi scooches closer, joining the conversation.

"Wasn't her name Arakita-senpai? Kageyama said she tutored him." The second year who slapped Kindaiichi nods.

"Arakita is pretty smart, I think she ranked in the tens last year. She's kinda shy though." Kunimi and Kindaichi sweat. _Sure doesn't act like it…_

"Yasui-kun!" The second year perks up at his name. A girl comes running, out of breath.

"Kaho-chan!" Kunimi elbows Kindaichi and juts his chin at the girl.

"That's Yasui-senpai's girlfriend I was talking about." Kindaichi stares at the girl with an open mouth full of energy jello.

"Ooh." Yasui gets up from his sitting position and steadies the panting girl.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late for your match, I t-tried to get out of work as soon as possible."

"Kaho-chan, I told you you didn't have to…"

"I also got you this good luck charm, I-I put all my love into it so I hope it works!" Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and the rest of the third years quickly leave the scene before somebody barfs. The first years stare at the couple with undiluted fascination.

"Man, girlfriend's are nice. I want one." Kindaichi mumbled. Tobio thinks to himself that girlfriend's are nice too.

Kunimi shrugs, stuffing his towel under his shirt to absorb the sweat that collected on his back. "Kindaichi, you don't even get along with girls."

"S-shut up!" Kindaichi whips his towel at Kunimi, who immediately looks grossed out at being touched by Kindaichi's sweaty towel. Tobio squats near them, spooking the duo.

"Do you have to get along with the girl to go out with them?" Kindaichi raises an eyebrow.

"Duh? You have to like each other to even consider dating." In his brain, Tobio rules out 99% of the girls he knows. They were all too afraid of him to even talk to him. Tobio sucks the last of his jello out, contemplating.

"I want a girlfriend too." Kunimi and Kindaichi gawk at their classmate.

"Kageyama? You? Dati-" Kunimi covers his mouth. Kindaichi is almost as bad as Tobio when it comes to _not _leaving things unsaid.

"That's nice, Kageyama. Do you have anyone in mind?" Tobio nods.

"I'm going to ask Arakita-senpai." Kindaichi rips Kunimi's hand off of his mouth.

"Are you seri-" The referee blows the whistle to signal the start of the second set, and the boys scramble to put away their belongings and switch courts, conversations pushed back in order to focus on the game. Kindaichi's mind still swirled with the thoughts of Tobio dating someone.

-.-.-

Kitagawa-Daiichi win the next set. Nanoka and Chiharu jump up and down, doing a special handshake to celebrate. Kindaichi gets reprimanded by Oikawa for getting distracted by the girls in the stand, which leads to Iwaizumi yelling at Oikawa for letting such a horde of girls come to their game, which ends up with Oikawa with a giant bruise because he goaded that Iwaizumi is just jealous of his popularity. During the whole play, Tobio didn't give Nanoka a glance. He's too worried.

The coach still hasn't let him play setter yet, and he's getting antsy.

-.-.-

15-20.

Kitagawa-Daiichi is in the lead. Their coach calls for a time out. Tobio's muscles buzzed.

"Oikawa, since we're in the lead, we're switching you with Tobio for a while. It's to let him get a feel of the game, since he'll be setter once you graduate. This is a practice match for a reason, ready?"

"Ossu!"

Iwaizumi squeezes Oikawa's wrist. Without using words, he tries to reassure his childhood friend. _You're not being replaced. You're moving forward and Kageyama is simply filling your shoes._

When the game resumes, they get into the new formation, and the girls notice.

"Oikawa isn't in the middle? Hey, isn't that the first year genius setter?"

"Oh no, they're swapping him out already? Will Oikawa-kun play setter during the Junior High Prefecture Tournament?" Nanoka narrows her eyes, focusing on the boys below. This was what Tobio invited her to watch.

To watch him set.

Tobio's form is raw, and tosses instinctive. He has trouble adjusting the each middle blocker, tossing too fast often. There were some close calls, but Tobio quickly adapts. Kindaichi hit high tosses best, and Fumiya is good at tosses close to the net. Much to everyone's surprise, he racks up the points till it was 16-24. Match point.

None of the girls cheered for Tobio.

The lull in the air sounded odd after all the screaming they heard during Oikawa's play. It was almost...ominous. Like they were waiting for Tobio to fail. Then, a voice breaks the silence.

"K-Kageyama-kun! One more point!"

Tobio glances up at Nanoka, her face flushed from the sudden attention. But she does not shy away. Chiharu looked surprised at her friend's outburst, but a grin spreads on her face. Chiharu lets out a roar, scaring her neighbors,

"Orrraaaaaaaaa, that's right boys! One, more, point!" Her voice seems to ruse the audience. "One more point! One more point!" The chant quickly picks up momentum, and soon the whole gymnasium echoed the three words.

"One, more, point! One, more, point! One, more, point!" Nanoka offers Tobio a double thumbs up, mouthing a 'you can do it'. It starts a fire in his heart. Kindaichi slaps Tobio's arm, offering a sweaty grin.

"Show 'em what you got."

This time, the crowd roared at his serve, and howled even louder when his spike meets no opponent.

They had won.

-.-.-

The school teams finish the formalities, and start packing up the net and balls. Tobio still felt high from the feeling of his palm slapping the ball, scoring the point, hearing the roar of the crowd. Nanoka calling his name still echoed in his head. He sees shuffling in the corner of his eyes and looks up.

Chiharu and Nanoka are no longer in the stands. He drops the armful of balls, much to the coach's annoyance, and runs out of the gym in a hurry. He was supposed to ask Nanoka out after the game! She can't leave yet!

"What the- Kageyama, you have to help clean up!" Kageyama speeds past his fuming coach, ignoring his words. Kindaichi suddenly throws the net he was carrying to the floor and chases after the boy. "Kindaichi, where the hell do you think you're going?" Feeling something is up, Oikawa and Yasui also abandon their chores to snoop. "God damn it kids!" Iwaizumi and Kunimi sigh at the sight of the abandoned equipment.

"Haru hurry up, I'm hungry!" Chiharu groans from inside the girl's bathroom.

"Go to the vending machines or somthing! I really need to let this out!" Nanoka grimaces, face turning green. She dashes out of the bathroom with her hands over her ears before she hears anything unnecessary.

"Gross, Haru," Nanoka grumbles, slowing down at the end of the courtyard. She's about to turn the corner when Tobio suddenly darted out, nearly colliding with Nanoka. "Gah! Kageyama-kun?!" He stops, nearly tripping over himself. He is breathing heavily, staring down at Nanoka with an odd expression. She can see the million thoughts running through minds. "Are you okay? I'm sorry for leaving without telling you but Chiharu had to go to the bathroo-"

"Arakita-senpai," His voice sounds dead serious, and it makes the hair on the back of Nanoka's neck stand. She gulps. She fights down the urge to run away, because Tobio looked rather scary, heaving with black wiggly lines emitting from him in the background. They do not notice the trio of boys hide themselves in the bushes nearby despite their squabbling.

"Y-yes?" Tobio takes a deep breath, and tries his best to relax his expression. Nanoka grimaces because it does the opposite effect. His face now looked like Satan and a possessed eagle mixed together.

"Arakita-senpai, I'm not good with girls," Tobio starts. "I make scary faces and say the wrong things. But I still want a girlfriend." He suddenly grabs her clammy hands and pulls her forward, causing her to nearly lose her footing. Her eyes never leaves his, afraid that if she looks away for a minute, Tobio will gobble her up and fly away. "You're the only girl that's nice to me and talks to me. So will you go out with me?" When Tobio's words finally catch up to her, Nanoka splutters, unable to follow Tobio's brand of logic behind his confession. Her train of thought is interrupted when she hears a flush. They were standing in front of the boy's bathroom. Embarrassment floods her. They must be haunted by the God of Events of something, because she has a feeling many more of their meetings will take place in unconventional places.

"W-w-wah, was, confession to me in front of the urinals necessary, Kageyama-kun?" Tobio frowns harder, nearly making Nanoka squeak at the frightening expression in her panicked state. After a few seconds, Tobio looks away from her.

"Did you want me to ask you out again over there?" He points at the tree just a few meters away. She shakes her head in disbelief.

"Kageyama-kun you already said it! It's too late!"

"Oh. Is that a no?" Nanoka becomes dismayed at Tobio's kicked puppy expression.

"No, no, it's not a no!" At Tobio's hopeful expression, Nanoka quickly adds, "It's not a yes either!"

"O-okay." Nanoka takes her hands out of Tobio's and rests her palm over his fingers.

"K-Kageyama-kun, are you asking me out because you like me?" Tobio seems to think about it, before giving her a strong nod.

"You're nice to me and ...sometimes my heart beats faster when you're around." Despite those textbook romance words, Nanoka's own heart thrums. She shyly tucks a stray hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure you're okay with a person like me? I'm really boring…" Tobio shakes his head.

"Arakita-senpai, it can only be you." In the bushes, Oikawa grumbles.

"She better not say yes, he's only saying that because she's the only girl that talks to him," Kindaichi nods.

"Word," Yasui shushes them, intent on hearing the rest of the conversation. Before them, Nanoka shyly twirls her hair.

"When you say it like that…" Oikawa makes a horrified expression. He whispers,

"No, she won't!" Yasui elbows him into silence this time.

"We'll probably go really slow, Kageyama-kun, since I've never dated before. But if you're okay with that…" Nanoka bows slightly. "Please take care of me." Kageyama's expression brightens but quickly turns shocked when his teammates jump out from the bushes screaming obsenities of disbelief at them. Nanoka screams along with them, falling into Tobio when her legs give out at the shock.

Chiharu finally finds Nanoka, who is trying to regain her footing with Tobio flustered behind her, and Oikawa, Yasui, and Kindaichi with leaves in their hair throwing insults at Tobio, ranging from "heartless" to "betrayer".

She doesn't know what happened, but she knows for a fact that Nanoka is getting interrogated on the bus ride home.

**Culture Notes:**

**Achaa*:** "Aww man." or "Shucks." There are variations like "Aryaa", which is more feminine.

**Donmai**:** Japan's shortened version of "Don't mind." Used to cheer up someone when they make a mistake or failed something.

**A/N:**

I'm dooooone! I think this is a pretty good pace of writing, seeing that I'm also writing school assignments and rp alongside this. My first exams are next week and I'm not ready for them, ugh. College.

I wanted to focus on Kageyama's lack of support in his middle school life. It's hinted in the manga that Kageyama didn't have any friends in middle school. In this fic, Kindaichi and Kunimi are on speaking terms with Kageyama because he really hasn't done anything to push them away yet. It'll happen eventually though. I think being compared to Oikawa doesn't really do well on his reputation either, since many students see Oikawa as this perfect human being.

Thanks for reading!

Luca


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